


Just Kids

by oldjosjos



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, In a sense, One Shot, he'll be there for his kids, just minorly, reaper is fucking pissed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-22 03:39:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13755522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oldjosjos/pseuds/oldjosjos
Summary: Today is the day Gabriel Reyes meets his new charges—the first members of Blackwatch. It's nothing he'd hoped it would be.





	Just Kids

“We’ve got your boys ready,” Jack said, leaning into the open door of Gabriel’s office.

Gabe glanced up from the book he was half-reading. “What does that mean?” he asked. He sounded tired. Who could blame him, after all the crap he’d dealt with from Morrison?

“Blackwatch. The first members of your new crew,” Jack said. The smile on his face faltered. “Hopefully there’ll be some more.”

Gabe’s eyes went wide. It had been awhile since he’d actually looked forward to something at work. Progress on Blackwatch was enough to get him out of his chair. “That’s great!” he said. “Where are they? I’ll have to let them get to know who’s their boss.”

Jack’s smile had very much disappeared. In fact, he looked a touch embarrassed. “The first kid is in Holding Cell 3,” Jack said, “and the second one is in the MedBay with Angela.”

Gabe’s shoulders dropped and he looked like he could smite Morrison off the face of the Earth. “So there’s only two, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“And they’re kids?”

“Well, compared to us.”

“And one of them is bad enough to be under lock and key, and the other one’s too sick to get out of bed?”

Jack sighed. “You’re making it sound a lot worse than it is,” he said. “Go out, say hello, do your job and be done with it. Don’t get so worked up.”

Gabe rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, Commander.”

Morrison paused. “You can still call me Jack.”

Gabe gave him a nod and walked away without a word. He didn’t have time to get caught up in Jack’s attempts at rekindling friendship, after all. He had to go do his job and be done with it.

 

* * *

 

As the door to the Holding Cell 3 visitors room slid open, Gabe heard something tumble to the floor. A moment later, scurrying footsteps. Then silence.

Gabe stood still in the doorway, about as frustrated as he’d ever been. “I’m actually begging you not to fuck with me today,” he said.

“I’m not trying to fuck with you!” a distant voice cried. They sounded exhausted. “I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t know what the fuck y’all want!”

“You’re in our holding cells because you’ve presumably been a shithead. I’m your new boss, so you’re my shithead,” Gabe said. He entered, getting a full view into the cell through the glass partition.

God, Gabe knew he was a kid, but he didn’t know he was a _kid_. He couldn’t have been more than 20, almost certainly less than that. He was crouched in the corner, staring at Gabe like a wild dog.

Gabe stood still in front of the window for a moment, then sighed. “Listen, I’m sure you’re out of sorts, but could you come up and talk with me for a couple minutes?” he said. It wasn’t his way to be so friendly with subordinates, but the kid looked a few steps off of bawling. He’d had it rough.

The kid stood up from where he was crouched. His arms were zip tied behind his back, and while his legs weren’t restrained, he shuffled as if they were. He kicked out his chair and sat down with a faint grimace.

Gabe was able to get a much better look at the kid now that he was a mere foot across from him, and to be blunt, he looked like shit. His hair was a greasy mess, and he hadn’t shaved in days. He had dark circles on his dark circles, and a light purple bruise sat under his left eye. His lips were so cracked and dry you’d mistake them for a salt flat.

“I’m Gabriel Reyes, Commander of the new Blackwatch unit of Overwatch,” Gabe said. He never felt comfortable with introductions, but he’d try his best. “Can I have your name?”

The kid shifted in his seat a little, and looked away as he spoke. “Jesse McCree,” he finally said.

Gabe nodded, and after a moment’s pause, continued with his introduction spiel. “Now, Blackwatch is a covert ops division. We do the things that Overwatch proper doesn’t want to have their name associated with,” he said. “I say ‘we’ here because you’re our first drafted member.”

Jesse’s mouth hung open for a second, as if he intended to say something. He seemed a touch shocked, almost angry, which Gabe understood. He’d feel the same way. After a moment, Jesse’s face shifted. He looked scared. He bit his lip—hard—and nodded. His eyes were wet.

Gabe raised an eyebrow at him. “You upset?” he asked. Jesse nodded again, this time a tear rolling down his cheek.

Again, it wasn’t like Gabe to be like this, but looking at Jesse broke his heart. He didn’t seem like the kind of hardened criminal they usually had in their holding cells. He looked like a kid who fell out of high school onto the wrong side of the tracks.

“Say, Jesse,” Gabe said, “how old are you?”

“I’m not supposed to say that,” he mumbled.

Gabe shrugged. “Well, I’m your commander, so I get to hear whatever I want, and I want to know how old you are.”

Jesse closed his eyes tight as he spoke, almost wincing. He was alone in the cell, but it was like he thought a spectral hand would come out of nowhere and strike him for his disobedience. “I’m seventeen.”

Gabriel went wide-eyed. “Seventeen? I’m hearing that right?” he said. Jesse nodded.

Gabe shook his head. “Jesus,” he muttered. “How long have you been in here?”

Jesse again seemed to be fearing some kind of divine punishment. He glanced back and forth, then leaned close to the window. “I’m not sure anymore,” he said. “But I betcha it’s been at least a week.”

Gabe glanced around past Jesse, and got a good view of the cell. No windows. No bed. No toilet. Just floor to ceiling concrete and a fluorescent light. This place was not meant for a weeklong stay.

“Do they at least let you out to use the bathroom? Or eat? Anything?” Gabe asked.

“They let me out twice a day to use the toilet. They watch me the whole damn time, it’s the nastiest thing,” he said. He made a face and shook his head at the thought of it. “And they feed me but it’s, y’know…” he trailed off, making a silent retching motion. “A cup of water and a lil’ bowl of this nasty gruel they call soup, once a day. I ain’t ever had soup that tastes like that does, lemme tell ya.”

Gabe nodded, then paused. “Alright, I’ve got one more question, and then I’ll stop bothering you,” he said. “Where’d you get that black eye?”

Jesse’s face went grey. He fidgeted for a moment, then leaned in close again. “I really don’t think I should tell you,” he said. He motioned behind him to the upper left corner of the room. Gabe peered in, and laid eyes on a camera. He looked behind him to find a similar one in the visitor’s room.

He glared into the camera and spoke with a tone so pointed it could pop a balloon. “Well, like I’ve said, I’m your commander,” he said. “I get to hear whatever I want, and I want you to tell me where you got your black eye, Jesse.”

Jesse took a deep breath. His fists were white-knuckle tense, and the look on his face was a unique mix of fear and rage. “Those fuckin’ pig guards seem to get a real kick out of beating the tar out of me,” he said, quiet through gritted teeth.

Gabe nodded, silent. He wasn’t surprised, but he was furious in a way he rarely felt. “Well,” he finally said after an extended quiet, “we’re gonna have to do something about that.” He stood up from his chair and crossed his arms. “I’m getting you transferred to a real room as fast as I can. If it’s not by the end of the day, I’ll drag you out of here myself.”

Jesse seemed a bit shocked and, for the first time in their whole meeting, he smiled. It was the smile of someone who wasn’t shown kindness often. “Are you serious?”

“As serious as I’ve ever been.”

Jesse laughed and hung his head back. “Well that’s a miracle, ain’t it!” he said. He looked up to Gabe, still smiling wide. “I’m gonna owe ya one.”

Gabe nodded. “You’ll pay me back by coming to the Blackwatch mission briefing tomorrow night. Work starts fast.”

Jesse nodded. “I can take it,” he said. A moment later, a confused look crossed his face. “Say, would you mind me asking what I’m supposed to do for ya?”

Gabe thought for a moment, then shrugged. “You tell me,” he said. “What’re you good at?”

Jesse seemed to blank out for a moment. It was never easy to compliment yourself, after all. “Well, I guess I’d say I’m pretty handy with a revolver,” he finally said.

Gabe nodded. “Then that’s what you’ll be. The revolver guy,” he said.

Jesse’s smile returned as a wave of excitement ran through him. “The revolver guy, huh?” he said. “That’s pretty cool.”

Gabe smiled and nodded. “Sure, kid,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Same to you,” Jesse said.

With that, Gabe headed out the door.

 

* * *

 

As Gabe headed towards the med bay, he could see that his arrival was very much expected.

“Here to meet your new soldier, Reyes?” Angela said. She was standing in the hallway around the corner from the med bay entrance. It was clear from the bitter look on her face that Gabe would have to get by her if he wanted in.

“If Morrison wasn’t lying to me, I’m supposed to find him here,” Gabe said. “But it seems like you aren’t very into this whole thing.”

“Oh, you’ve got it on the dot,” she said. She laughed. “I didn’t get to know that my patient was meant to be on your team until three days ago. Three days!”

Gabe shrugged. “Well, I didn’t know that he was going to be on my team until this morning,” he said. “You weren’t the only one in the dark.”

Angela ran her hands down her face and let out another frustrated laugh. “You know what, I shouldn’t have expected you to understand the gravity of this right off the bat. My apologies,” she said. “Let’s put it in perspective. My patient has been recovering here for about three months.”

Gabe made a face. “So he’s bad off, huh?”

Angela nodded. “He was dead when he got here, Gabe. He has been very bad off.”

“Yikes,” he said. “How’s he doing now?”

Angela held up a finger. “Oh, that’s the best part, Gabriel,” she said. “I have made it clear to all my superiors that his recovery time would be up to a _year_.” She thumped her palm for emphasis on the last word. “He’s doing better than I anticipated, but Morrison seemed to take that as him being ready to get shipped off to war.”

Gabe shook his head, rubbing his eyes with exhaustion. “This might be a bad idea,” he muttered.

“Let me fix that for you: this _is_ a bad idea. No might,” she said. “But, what other option do we have?”

“Nothing,” Gabe replied without a second thought.

“Right,” Angela said. “So let’s go in, yes?

Gabe followed Angela to the door, and as her hand touched the nob, she paused. The look on her face was a mix of concern and reluctance.

“Now before we go in, a quick warning,” she whispered. “He’s not the most responsive person, so don’t expect much conversation. And, uh…” she trailed off, trying to think of the most tactful phrasing she could. “I would love it if you didn’t stare too much.”

As Angela opened the door, Gabriel found it difficult to follow her last request. There was so much tubing and wire and metal that it was hard to tell where the kid was. Eventually, Gabe caught sight of a flesh-and-bone left arm, and the two brown eyes.

“Hello, Genji,” Angela said. “How are you feeling?”

“Terrible,” he said. His voice came out with a faint electronic buzz, which took Gabe by surprise.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Angela asked.

Genji shook his head.

She turned back to Gabe, a resigned look on her face. “Every day is like this,” she whispered. A moment later, she cleared her throat and turned back to Genji. “Well, I have a visitor here for you.”

Genji craned his neck up, finally opening his eyes. He squinted at Gabe for a moment, then looked almost disappointed. Maybe he was hoping it was someone he actually knew.

Angela held a hand out towards Gabe. “This is Mr. Gabriel Reyes, the commander for the Blackwatch unit,” she said. At the words “Blackwatch,” Genji grimaced, and Angela gave him a sympathetic look. “He’s here to speak with you about…” she trailed off, looking at Gabe to finish her sentence.

“What we have planned for the coming days,” Gabe said. He paused. “And maybe I could get to know you a little better?”

Genji gave Gabe no reaction. Silence hung over the room like a wet blanket. After a few seconds, Mercy broke it with a definitely real cough.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” she said. “I’ll be working across the way.” She pointed towards a large in-wall mirror on the other side of the room, and gave Genji a quick nod. Gabe didn’t need much more of a hint to guess it was two-way.

“Thank you, Angela,” Gabe said as she headed for the door.

She turned back and smiled. “My pleasure.”

The door shut, and with that, the wet blanket fell back down. Gabe didn’t move, and neither did Genji. Neither wanted to make eye contact, but there was little else to do.

Eventually, Gabe heaved a sigh and pulled up a chair along Genji’s bedside. “So, your name’s Genji, right?” he asked as he sat down.

Genji gave a near-undetectable nod. Whatever it was, it was a response. Gabe nodded back.

“What about your last name?”

At this, Genji glanced towards the mirror for a moment. When he looked back, he seemed uncomfortable. Gabe understood why once he spoke.

“Shimada,” he said, staring at his feet.

Gabe tried not to look too surprised. The Shimada Clan was bad news. In fact, they were part of the reason Blackwatch was formed. But his last name being Shimada didn’t necessarily mean he was part of the family.

“Shimada like the Shimada Clan,” Genji said, his tone sharp enough to cut glass. Gabe couldn’t help but feel like he had been too nosy, even though he hadn’t said anything at all.

“Well, I guess that’s good to know,” Gabe said. He wasn’t over the shock. “I’m sure if you’re here at Overwatch, you’re going against them, right?”

Genji raised his mechanical arm with a wince. “They are why this happened,” he said. “I want them to die. All of them.”

Gabe nodded. “Well, I can appreciate the simplicity of your message,” he said. He let out a small laugh. “We rarely get soldiers this willing.”

“I am not willing,” Genji said, nearly cutting Gabe off. “Don’t call me willing.”

Gabe gave him an odd look. “If you’re not willing, why are you here?”

Again, Genji looked to the mirror. “To survive.”

The odd look stuck. Gabe crossed his arms and shifted down in his seat. “You’re gonna have to be more specific than that.”

Genji looked back to him, staring daggers. “I owe you nothing.”

Gabe shifted further down. He was starting to get frustrated. “Yeah, kid,” he said. “You don’t owe anyone anything. But I’m on your side, and it would be helpful to know what your fucking damage is before I have to be your boss indefinitely.”

Genji sat up sharply in bed, seeming ready to strike. He regretted that decision a moment later when a shock of pain hit every part of his body at once. He gasped and lay back down, clutching his sheet to his face.

Gabe felt a little self-righteous, but also bad for the poor kid. “Acting tough doesn’t seem to be making you feel any better,” he said.

Genji was silent, and pulled the sheet up to his eyes. Several seconds passed before he spoke.

“My brother murdered me, on my family’s orders,” he said. “Your people found my body. Dr. Ziegler brought me back, on your organization’s orders. Now I work for you as payment.” Every word of his explanation seemed to be a struggle for him.

Gabe raised an eyebrow. “So this wasn’t something you wanted?” Gabe said. “You didn’t ask for it?”

Genji nodded.

Gabe was disgusted. “Well I can see why you’re unwilling!” he said. “If the only reason I was alive was to serve some people I didn't know, I mean, I’d—”

“—rather be dead?” Genji finished.

Gabe looked at him, uncomfortable, but unable to deny it. Genji seemed to understand. In fact, he seemed to agree.

A moment later, with the timing of a certain eavesdropper, Angela creaked open the door. “Well, you boys have had your fun,” she said, “but I’ve got a tight schedule to keep so we’ll have to wrap this up.”

Gabe looked at the clock. It hadn't even been five minutes. “Are you sure you can’t squeeze in a bit more time?” Gabe asked. “We were just starting to get some momentum.”

“I’m very sure,” she said with a tight smile. She looked to Genji. “You and I have to do that physical therapy you love so much. I want you to be walking into the meeting tomorrow on your own.” At this, Genji seemed immediately exhausted, but gave a resigned nod.

Gabe knew Angela well enough to know she wouldn't even consider bending on this decision. He sighed and stood up to leave.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Genji,” he said. “I, uh… hope you’re feeling alright.”

Genji gave him a single nod.

Before he could walk out the door, Angela gave him a sharp tug to the arm and pulled him in close. “Please be careful with him,” she whispered. “I don’t want to put him through any more hardship.”

Gabe gave her a sympathetic look and shrugged. “I can’t promise you anything, but you know I’ll try.”

Angela nodded. “Thank you.”

Gabe gave one last wave before leaving. The minute he was out the door, he felt ready to explode.

This was wrong. These kids shouldn’t be fighting. They deserved a choice. And Morrison was gonna hear that whether he liked it or not.

 

* * *

 

“You’re not usually the one who goes around calling emergency meetings, Gabe,” Jack said. He was leaned back in his chair with his legs crossed. Ana was sitting off to the side, resting her head on her hands.

“I don’t call them because I don’t cause any emergencies that need to be discussed,” Gabe said. “But you do, and you did it again this time. I’m calling a meeting because I know you won’t.”

At this, Jack’s eyes widened. So did Ana’s. They both sat straighter in their chairs.

“What’s the problem?” Ana said. She looked to Jack. He stared at Gabe.

Gabe threw two files on the desk. “Well, let’s take a look at subject one,” he said. He flipped open the file to reveal Jesse’s mugshot. “Jesse McCree, 17 years old, former member of the Deadlock Gang. When we busted them, we decided to take him in, and you put him in my unit. But before that, everyone thought it was fine to leave him rotting in the holding cells for the better part of a week. No bed, no nothing.”

Jack was silent. So was Ana.

“Well, if no one has anything to say about that, let’s move on to subject two, because this one’s even better,” he said. He flipped open the second file, revealing Genji’s picture. It was an old one, one where he still looked human. “This is Genji Shimada, 15 years old. But this picture’s a bit out of date, so let me just..." Gabe flipped over to the next page, which opened on a photo of Genji on the operating table. He was unrecognizable and very dead.

Jack had little reaction to the picture—Gabe assumed he’d seen it before. Ana, however, looked away, her mouth covered. Fareeha was only a couple years younger than him.

“Don’t worry, he got better,” Gabe said. “Kind of.” He fanned through a number of disgusting medical pictures, until he landed on the most recent one. Genji was standing with his arms to his sides in front of a blue background, with his eyes blacked out. It was procedure to conceal patient identity—every picture had it—but it was pretty piss poor. You’d have to censor out half his body to make him unrecognizable.

“Our very own Dr. Ziegler was ordered to bring him back to life with”—he motioned around the medical equipment surrounding Genji—“all this garbage. He didn’t ask for it. We just felt like doing a little experiment. Now he’s stuck with us to pay it off.”

Again, Morrison was silent. Ana looked at him, almost desperate, hoping he would say something. Something to make any of this better.

“I’m sick of the silent treatment, Morrison,” Gabe said, finally raising his voice. “I want a goddamn explanation for this.”

Morrison folded his hands and brought them to his face with a heavy sigh. “Gabe, I hope you don’t think I like this any more than you do,” he said. “I wish we’d found your Blackwatch members in a more… moral way.”

Gabe threw his hands up, exasperated. “Wishing doesn’t do shit, Jack,” he said. “Why the hell didn’t you do something about it?”

“I don’t get to make that call!” Morrison said, now raising his voice. “Just because I’m your superior doesn’t mean I run this whole operation. There are people I’ve never met in ivory towers who decided this would be a good idea. To take kids no one would miss from their homes to form Blackwatch. I don’t like it, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Gabe held his hands to his face. “Jack, of course there’s something you could’ve done about it,” he said. “Everybody loves you. You’re strike commander. You’re a blonde-haired, blue-eyed farmboy who wants to preserve the American dream. If you said you didn’t like it, I bet you my next paycheck they would’ve cleaned up their act like that.” Gabe snapped his fingers for emphasis.

Jack was quiet. You could see him biting his lower lip, trying to keep his temper in check. “Well what do you want me to do about it now?” he said.

Gabe shrugged. “There isn’t anything to do about it now,” he said. “I just want you to feel like the piece of shit you are.” Gabe glanced over at Ana, who was still off to the side, looking rather shocked. “Do you have anything you’d like to add, Amari?”

Jack turned to look at Ana as well, and she seemed to shrink back in her seat. She looked between the two of them for several moments before finally settling on Jack. “I wish you could’ve told me something about this,” she said, her voice quiet, even a touch sympathetic. A moment later, her tone turned more frustrated. “I _deserved_ to be told about this.”

Jack couldn’t look Ana right in the eye. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh. “You’re right,” he said. “I hope you can find it somewhere in you to forgive me.”

Ana said nothing, and turned to look at Gabe. It was plain to see how hurt she was.

“I can’t speak for Amari,” Gabe said, “but it’ll take me a damn long time to let you off for what you’ve done to these kids.”

“I understand,” Jack said.

“I’m glad you do.”

A moment after Gabe spoke, Ana stood up from her chair. “Well, we’ve gained everything we could from this meeting, wouldn’t you both agree?” she said, her voice frayed. Morrison immediately nodded in agreement, while Gabe gave more of a noncommittal shrug. He would have stood there for the next two hours tearing Morrison a new one, but Ana deserved to be let off the hook.

“Gabriel, thank you for informing me of these issues,” Ana said. “I know there likely isn’t anything I can do about them but you know I’ll try. And Morrison…” she trailed off, giving him a tense look. “I appreciate your apology.”

Gabe left the room without a goodbye. He didn’t feel like being cordial.

A few moments after he left, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see Ana jogging after him.

“Do you need something?” he asked.

She slowed down to a stop a foot or so in front of him. “I suppose not,” she said. She made a face and crossed her arms. “I’m… I’m just angry. I thought we were better than this. I thought Morrison was better than this!”

Gabe shook his head and sighed. “Well, I guess you’ve learned a lesson today. There’s no such thing as a moral military leader,” he said. He glanced back towards Jack’s office. “Even if you’d call them your best friend.”

Ana looked back as well, and gave a disappointed nod. There was a moment of silence before she looked back to Gabe. “Are you doing anything tonight?”

“Drinking.”

“Mind if I join you?”

Gabe paused a moment, shrugged, and motioned for Ana to come along. She needed it as much as he did.

 

* * *

 

The next evening seemed to come so fast. It was like Gabe woke up, got out of bed, and then found himself sitting in a conference room, waiting for his charges.

Jesse came first, surprisingly early. He had a wide smile on his face, and was strutting like he owned the place. He held his hands up in the air and waved them from side to side. “Check it out, boss,” he said. “No more zip ties!”

Gabe smiled. “Glad to see it,” he said. He kicked out a chair for Jesse. “When’d they let you out?”

“A whole 45 minutes after you’d left,” he said. He laughed with a snort. “I wish you’d’ve seen the looks on their faces, it was classic. They knew they were in trouble.”

Gabe laughed with a nod. “Good to know I can still strike fear in the hearts of men even if I’m not their immediate superior.”

He didn’t want to get sentimental, but he had to say it: it gave him a warm, fuzzy feeling to see Jesse like this. He would never have believed that was the same poor son-of-a-bitch he’d met in the holding cells.

He was smiling. Laughing. Being goofy. Acting like a kid. Gabe knew it couldn’t last long, so he’d let him enjoy himself.

Jesse sat down in the chair and leaned his elbows on the table. “So, who else is comin’?” Jesse asked.

“One other guy,” Gabe said. “He’s a little bit younger than you. Name’s Genji.”

Jesse furrowed his brow. “Man, if he’s younger than me, he’s pretty damn young,” he said.

Gabe nodded. “You’re right. He’s only 15.”

Jesse went wide-eyed. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it a moment later. He was smart enough to know protesting wouldn’t get him anywhere.

For a while, it was quiet. Gabe didn’t mind it one bit, but it seemed to drive Jesse up the wall. He was bouncing his leg, twiddling his thumbs, anything he could do to interrupt the stillness in the room. Eventually, he caved. His need for noise and socialization overwhelmed his desire to look cool in front of his boss.

“So this other guy—could you tell me what he’s like?” Jesse asked. “Or is that some special confidential stuff.”

“Yeah, I can tell you a little bit,” Gabe said. He laughed. “Consider it a warning.”

Jesse cringed. “Is he an asshole?”

Gabe shrugged. “It depends on your definition,” he said. “I wouldn’t say he’s the worst, but he can be a little frustrating. He’s been through a lot of pretty hard times recently, I don’t know how well he’s handled them.”

“What does he look like?” Jesse asked.

“Why do you care?”

Jesse put his head on his hand and tilted it from side to side. “I don’t know. I’m curious,” he said. “Maybe he’s cute or something, I’ve never seen him!”

Gabe pointed at Jesse, his eyes narrowed. “I don’t want you thinking for one second about whether your only coworker is cute,” he said. “First rule of Blackwatch, no dumb kids getting crushes on each other.”

Jesse rolled his eyes with a laugh. “I’m kiddin’, I’m kiddin’.”

It was only a moment later that a knock came on the door.

“It’s unlocked,” Gabe called.

The door creaked open, and behind it stood Genji, alone. Dr. Ziegler was probably feeling pretty proud.

“Glad you could make it,” Gabe said. “You can sit across from your new co-worker.”

Genji approached the chair across from Jesse. It was obvious that he wasn’t feeling very comfortable. He didn’t look like he’d gotten much sleep, and his gait was tight and awkward. But even so, he took his seat. He sat very straight, with his arms hanging at his side.

Gabe looked to Jesse, who had been open-mouthed staring the entire time Genji had been in the room. He kicked his shin under the table, which got his attention. He turned to Gabe with a guilty look.

“How about you introduce yourself?” Gabe said.

Jesse nodded to him, and turned back to Genji. “I, uh, I’m Jesse,” he said. “Jesse McCree.”

Genji stared back at him. Jesse started bouncing his leg again.

Gabe turned to Genji. “You could maybe, y’know…” he mimed words coming out of his mouth.

Genji did nothing. Gabe sighed. “Introduce yourself back, smartass.”

Genji sighed. “My name is Genji Shimada,” he said. He glared at Gabe. “I did it.”

Gabe glared right back. “Good,” he said. “Rule number two of Blackwatch is always do what I say.”

Jesse leaned across the table to Genji. “You weren’t here, but rule number one was no getting crushes on each other.”

Genji nodded. “That should be very easy for me.”

Jesse's face dropped to a look of sadness, disappointment, and a touch of legitimate anger. He slumped back into his chair, arms crossed.

Gabe could feel his arteries hardening from the stress of how fucking stupid these kids were.

“Alright, alright, don’t start fighting already,” he said through one long sigh. He stood up from his chair, arms crossed. “I’m not asking us to be like family. I’m not even asking us to be like friends. I’m asking us to be civil coworkers.” He pointed to Genji. “Is that understood?”

Genji nodded, though his eyes screamed “fuck you old man, I’ll kill you.” Gabe accepted it in spite of that.

He pointed to Jesse. “And you, McCree?”

“Sir, yes, sir,” he mumbled, still slouching.

They were both terrible, but it was good enough. “Alright,” Gabe said. “Are you ready to get started?”

“Are you?” Genji asked.

Gabe stood still for a moment. “I don’t know, but it’s my job—our job—to make it work. Right?”

They both nodded.

Gabe smiled. “I’m glad we’re on the same page for once,” he said. “Hopefully we can keep that going.”

Jesse laughed. “Yeah, emphasis on hopefully.”

Gabe took another glance over his two-man crew. They were both sorry sacks of shit, and he could tell it was gonna be a nightmare-and-a-half to work with them.

But like he’d said before, they were kids. Kids who had gone through things most adults would never recover from.

They deserved a second chance, and he was the only person left in the world who could give it to them. So he’d do it if his life depended on it.

He took a breath, grabbed a whiteboard marker, and began the first of many Blackwatch meetings.

 


End file.
